Connections

 When I think back to the last thirteen years of my work experience, especially when I was working with customers and suppliers I try and count out how many of them I had.  This average comes out to be about 100 - 150 through each.  They all would like to get something else out of our interactions and establish a rapport as we continue to do more and more business.  How can they get a hold of you?  Typically through e-mail or a phone call.  How do they know how to get a hold of you, probably one of the very first things you do when joining a new company would be to establish that.

Gordon Paustian, Regulatory Specialist
XLXL Inc.
Ph: (208) 900-0229
Fax: (208) 900-0227
E-mail: gordonpaustian@xlxlinc.com

This is simple enough to get you started, but as your network grows and you continue to work with individuals you can add more things on to this.  In some jobs there are other titles you can take that establish you are part of an organization, for Human Resources specialists there's the SHRM, for Regulatory Professionals in the medical world there's RAPS (Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society), IFT (Institute of Food Technologists), there are LinkedIn groups (Food Regulatory Affairs Professionals, Software and Technology Managers), Professional Certificates such as MOS (Microsoft Office Specialist), CCHP-RN (Certified Correctional Health Professional-RN), and the list can go on and on and on..  Essentially these can be applied as you find appropriate to announce your certification, your signature can grow into something like..

Gordon Paustian, Regulatory Specialist, IFT Professional

XLXL Inc.
Ph: (208) 900-0229
Fax: (208) 900-0227
LinkedIn: Gordon Paustian

Letting others know the value you can bring to them could help lead others to approach you just as much as you look for identifications on others to determine that you would like to get to know what someone else knows just a little bit more.  Personally I have used this method to let others know that I can help them get to know (specifically their IT department) better by reading through their profiles that (typically only the IT department uses and knows about) holds a lot of the useful information.  

This also doesn't apply to just those outside of your organization, but those internally as well.  You may, or may not always be in close professional proximity to them and you may need their support when you're looking for new opportunities in your future, so connect with them elsewhere instead of just in your workplace.  At least half of my contacts are from my current job and the other from my previous job or through training and professional groups that interest me, especially if you can share groups and discussion forums that interest both of you it will keep you both up-to-date and something to talk about together in the workplace.  

Most of my experiences with past and present professional interactions do revolve around the use of my LinkedIn contacts and I haven't had a complaint about how to use it to find groups or contacts with other companies as well.  If you haven't tried it, I would certainly give it a try (feel free to let me know if you need assistance setting up an account or ideas for what to add, I'm more than happy to help).  If you have other ideas for professional networks or forums that you like to use, I would like to learn about them as well, so please comment below!

Thank you for your time.